Tenant advocates are ready to put a rent control measure on the November ballot in San Pablo, while renter and landlord groups across the Bay Area have launched dueling campaigns.
Tenant groups led by the Los Angeles-based Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment have submitted to the East Bay city more than 1,500 signatures needed to bring a measure to cap rent increases and add renter protections before voters, the East Bay Times reported.
Officials will now work to verify the signatures.
In addition to San Pablo, tenant groups led by the alliance are coordinating signature gathering campaigns for rent control measures in Redwood City, Pittsburg and Larkspur, according to the Times.
The proposed ballot measures in each city would cap yearly rent increases to 60 percent of the inflation rate and no more than 3 percent or 5 percent in total, depending on the city. They would also beef up enforcement of current renter protections and add rules against tenant harassment.
The rent caps would not apply to single-family homes and condos, as well as apartments built after 1995.
Landlords would still be able to charge market-rate rent to new tenants, and in some cases, property owners could petition for increases beyond the local limits.
Opponents of rent control argue that, in addition to hurting small landlords still reeling from the pandemic, restricting rent increases creates a disincentive for developers to build more homes.
They also cite research showing that rent limits can reduce the number of available apartments and diminish overall affordability as tenants stay in rent-controlled units longer and some landlords stop leasing properties.
In recent months, renter and landlord groups across the Bay Area have launched similar ballot-box campaigns, including competing measures to either expand or roll back tenant protections in Berkeley, according to the newspaper. In Concord, a landlord-backed effort was underway to repeal a newly approved rent control law but didn’t have the signatures.
The rent control clashes follow pandemic eviction moratoriums and rental assistance programs to prevent low-income tenants from losing their homes amid widespread job losses.
With the emergency efforts now expired, tenant groups are going directly to voters hoping to push through permanent renter protections, as many renters strain to pay high Bay Area rents.
The typical apartment rent in the region now tops $2,500 a month, compared to less than $1,400 nationwide, according to Apartment List.
Across California, a state law enacted in 2020 caps rent increases for older apartments at 5 percent plus inflation, or 10 percent, whichever is lower. More than 20 cities statewide have local rent control, including Oakland, Richmond, San Jose, Mountain View, East Palo Alto and San Francisco.
— Dana Bartholomew
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